Jesus1st.Net

Why?

It’s the question that theologians and laypeople, religious and irreligious people have struggled with forever. We see death and pain and tragedy everywhere we go in everything and we can’t help but ask, “Why does God allow suffering?” What kind of God allows suffering, and if God is loving, how can a loving God allow so much sorrow in this world?

The most trite among us will turn the question around and say, “Why do we allow so much suffering?” This short response attempts to put the burden on man and not on God, and to a degree there is a point to be made. On the whole though, this answer is just a source of irritation for people who are in pain.

God does allow suffering, and there are reasons that He does. Some of the reasons, we understand, but most of the time, God’s attitude toward our suffering is a mystery to us. Man’s sin plays a role here, obviously. We know that there wouldn’t be suffering if we weren’t in what Christians often call a “fallen world.” We know that we are responsible for our sins, but you can’t avoid the fact that in not intervening when He has the power to do so, God is allowing the suffering to continue.

Why would He do that? Let me try to explain suffering and the idea of a “fallen world” with a more modern illustration.

Let’s say you are a car collector and your newest and most prized addition to your collection is a 1952 Phantom IV Rolls Royce, (with the original paint) that you have been saving for and wanting for years. Now that you finally have it you take it out for a Sunday drive and as you’re going through an intersection a teenager in a speeding Land Rover runs a red light and smacks into your beautiful and stately treasure, and it is totaled.

This is a rare car. One of the rarest cars in the world. It’s a total loss. Would it be possible to re-build it and bring it back into not just working condition, but into good condition? Let’s say money is no object and you love this car so much that you are willing to pour time and money into refurbishing this junk pile in front of you.

Is it worth it? Probably not. Will it cost more money than it did to buy the car? Absolutely. Will it take a seemingly endless amount of time and toil? You can count on it. Any car collector who embarked on such a task would have to just be totally, passionately and madly in love with this car.

What you have is a monumental task that is going to be painful and incredibly taxing and costly, but completely worth it to this one car owner even though the cost in time, effort and money is going to be high.

Such is the world. From the moment of the first sin, the creation was a total loss. The whole of history everything from the flood, to the law, to Christ’s death, up to and including the present, has been God’s effort to restore His creation from a junk pile.

The most likely reason God allows suffering is not because he doesn’t love us, but for the very reason that He loves us too much. The most probable explanation for all the pain we see around us is that this process is the painful, incredibly taxing and costly process that is necessary for our Creator to bring us from a fallen and totaled state into not just “working” condition, but “good” condition.

Prince of Peace

Hurry! All the big Christmas sales start today. We have to wake up, get dressed, and go. We have to snag that $300 laptop, those 50 percent off shoes, we must have all those outfits that are discounted, and if we get there early enough, we’ll get free holiday knickknack’s at some of the stores.

Hurry up so we can go and wait in the parking lot. Oh, and when those doors open, run fast. We don’t want to get trampled by the other shoppers. Once we get in, we will shop and shop and shop until our arms can’t hold anymore and we’ve maxed out our credit cards.

Prince of Peace.

There are so many Christmas parties to go to this year. It seems like there are more each year. By mid-October every Saturday in December was already booked. We still have to decide when to have our party. Do we work it in 2 days before Christmas when everyone is out of town, or do we do it super-early, say the first week of December? And what happens when Aunt Harriet decides she wants to have her Christmas party and it conflicts with Cousin Gretchen’s? Oh look, another invitation. We have some really difficult choices to make.

Prince of Peace.

This is a mess. If I spend $50 for mom’s gift, dad will notice that I only spent $30 on his. And if I spend more than $25 on the parents, I’ll need to spend at least that for Grandma, but she has everything. Then there are my two brothers. Pete might get offended if I give him one gift and then give Jim two, but I just bought Pete and his wife tickets to a football game two weeks ago. I hope he remembers. I’d really hate to hurt him, and I don’t want to know what that’s going to look like to Mom. She’s still mad about last year’s gifts. Then there’s Uncle Jack. I have to make up for getting him the same thing two years in a row or he might exclude our entire branch of the family tree from his will. I don’t care about it, but dad is concerned.

Prince of Peace.

How am I going to do this? If I get each of my three children the top thing on each of their Christmas lists, I’m going to spend $700, just on one gift for each. They still believe in Santa Claus, so I can’t explain that they each only got one gift because I’ve been unemployed for three months and the finances are tight. I really can’t even afford to give them the top item on their lists, but I can’t stand to see them disappointed. Oh well… Mastercard will have a good year, even if I don’t.

Prince of Peace.

This seating arrangement is killing me. If I sit mom next to Uncle Erwin, things could get dicey, and there’s a slight chance of physical violence. But if I move Uncle Erwin, he will either be across from Kyle, and his foul language could become a problem for an 8-year-old, or he will be across from Uncle Joey who can’t stand the sight of him. Maybe we’ll just eat on the couches this year.

Price of Peace.

Well, looks like the old artificial tree is ready for the junk heap. I guess I’ll have to pack the family into the Impala and pick out a real tree this year. But I really don’t have time for this. It’s already 2 weeks before Christmas, and I haven’t been able to decorate anything on the house. I haven’t checked the lights, so I don’t know how many strands I’ll have to replace. I have to go re-arrange the attic, and take everything out of it since the Christmas stuff is in the back. Then, we’ll have to go buy supplies for the party we’re hosting on Saturday. I have less than a week to completely decorate the house, fix everything that’s broken, and give the entire house a good scrubbing before guests arrive at 7 p.m. Saturday night. I guess I can do it, if I don’t sleep.

Prince of Peace.

“She gave birth to her first son, wrapped him in cloths and laid him in a manger—there was no room for them to stay in the inn. There were some shepherds in that part of the country who were spending the night in the fields, taking care of their flocks. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone over them. They were terribly afraid, but the angel said to them, ‘Don’t be afraid! I am here with good news for you, which will bring great joy to all the people. This very day in David’s town your Savior was born—Christ the Lord! And this is what will prove it to you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.’ Suddenly a great army of heaven’s angels appeared with the angel, singing praises to God: ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom he is pleased!’” (Luke 2:7-14 Good News Bible)

Prince of Peace.

Mighty God

Most of us can accept that a man will be born who will be called Wonderful Counselor. Many of us, could probably think of people in our lives to whom we could ascribe that title. But when Isaiah says the Messiah will be called “Mighty God,” he has added a new wrinkle that most people, particularly religious people have a hard time accepting. A man will be born, a flesh and blood human being, will be called Mighty God. Think about your circle of friends. You may have several wonderful counselors, but would you say that any of your friends and associates would fit the description Mighty God? You might know a few people who think they themselves fit this description, but others probably aren’t convinced.

The idea of calling another human being a Mighty God, is repulsive and backwards to most people. Two out of the world’s three largest religions reject the idea of Jesus of Nazareth being the Messiah because He and His followers claimed He was God. It is not something we expect or can fathom. So why would anyone believe it? Why would someone willingly choose to ascribe this identity to another man?

I’m not talking theology here. It’s not my intent to get into Jesus being fully man while at the same time fully God. I want to look at the actions of Jesus that would cause us to identify Him with the description given in Isaiah. What did Jesus do that makes some from his time and some from our time feel comfortable calling Him “Mighty God?”

If we really look at it, Jesus earns this particular name through his miracles, his forgiveness and through his resurrection.

HIS MIRACLES: Being 2,000 years removed from the events that occurred during Christ’s life, we tend to glaze over the miracles He performed as though they were fairy tales. But to those who were at the center of these well-known stories, the might of God would have been almost unmistakable.

Ask Jairus’ daughter whose hand touched her and rescued her from death, and she would tell you it could be none other than the hand of God. Ask the lepers what brought them from outcasts to spotless, and they would tell you it was the presence of God. Ask the blind man who opened his eyes, and he would tell you it was the source of light. Or, ask a crowd of 5,000 hungry men on a hillside who provided dinner, and they would say the Bread of Life.

Jesus’ miracles set Him apart, and while they didn’t on their own prove that He was God, they showed that His power could come only from God. His works were mighty.

HIS FORGIVENESS: God alone can forgive sins. This is what got Jesus in trouble on several occasions. He would tell people their sins were forgiven and the religious leaders of the day would say, “Where does he get the authority to forgive sins?” Being God, of course, He would have a right to, but let’s look at the personal end of this. Think about the people who would have seen the might of God through Christ’s acts of forgiveness.

Picture the woman who interrupted dinner at Simon’s house. Jesus forgave her sins, and she washed His feet with her hair. The religious among them scoffed, but Jesus reminded them that those who have been forgiven more are much more grateful. The woman was someone the aforementioned religious leaders would never consider forgiving, and if they had any idea she would be joining them in Heaven, they would have gladly chosen hell just to avoid her. Jesus, the only one at the table who had the right to condemn her, forgave her in full for transgressions no man would forgive her for.

The next person I want you to look at is not someone who interrupted a party, but someone who came late for one. He is a thief, a man condemned to death on a cross. He’s guilty and he knows it. He has done absolutely nothing in his life that could redeem himself, and he feels the emptiness and pain of the death that comes after a wasted life. The guy on the cross next to him, is about to change his life and his death. He asks Jesus for forgiveness and eternity. Jesus gives it to Him, no questions asked. Society couldn’t forgive the thief, but Jesus showed mercy times ten.

No one knows the might and the power of forgiveness more than those who have seen true forgiveness with no strings attached. Were you to ask these two broken people, they would tell you that the forgiveness they received was an act of love from a mighty God.

HIS RESURRECTION: On the basis of this, and this alone, Jesus is worthy of the moniker ascribed to Him by Isaiah. If a man who claims to be God, starts walking around three days after several witnesses saw him die, there is an overwhelming chance that the claims of divinity and any other claims made by that person are true. How many dead guys do you see up and walking around? What would you think if you saw one? This, more than anything else, seals the deal, and it is the very thing that made the disciples finally “get” who Jesus was.

Before that, they could see Him as Messiah, they could call Him a Prophet, they knew Him as a miracle worker, and they knew He made some bizarre claims about being equal to God, but it isn’t likely that they bought into his claims fully. You wouldn’t either. If one of your buddies started going around claiming to be God, you would either be preparing the straight jacket, or you might think, “Yeah, Josh is a great guy, and I really like him, but he’s got this weird quirk…” Now, if Josh rose from the dead, you would take that “weird quirk” as gospel, and that’s exactly what the disciples did.

Thomas is the perfect illustration of this. When told that Jesus was up and walking around, Thomas said “show me.” Jesus showed up and offered his hands and side for examination, and Thomas immediately fell to his knees and said, “My Lord, and my God!” There was no question about Christ’s identity after that.

Why would someone call a man “Mighty God?” If this man heals you when no one else can, if He forgives you when no one else will, and if He qualifies all of that by reviving Himself from death, how can you not have the same reaction as Thomas. “My Lord and my God! You are good and you are Mighty!”

We All Need Help

Why are Christians so phony? A Google search on “Wonderful Counselor,” one of the names given to Christ in Isaiah, will turn up a few song lyrics and a couple of sermons, but on the whole there doesn’t seem to be a great body of work available on the Internet about this particular name.

What does that have to do with being phony? Take a look at modern-day Christianity. The name of the game is image. Look happy… no, better yet, look joyful. Pretend like you don’t have any problems, even though your struggles may be so evident that everyone you come in contact with knows you are severely flawed. Be strong. Telling people about your problems might hurt your witness. Outwardly, we create this appearance of joy and thankfulness– or of righteousness even– but inwardly we’re dying for something that will ease the pain we try to hide.

We don’t talk much about gluttony or materialism or greed or racism or hatred or lustful thoughts. Instead, we pick on other people’s issues. Smoking, drinking, prostitution and drugs, we feel safe condemning those things, especially if they aren’t sins we struggle with. If they are, we pretend and plea the fifth.

Christians are often the first to talk about moral decline and breakdown in the family. We’re really good at criticizing divorce and judging adulterers. But if we’d step away from the pulpit and look in the mirror, the reality is more then 50 percent of Christian marriages end in divorce too.

We’re phony. That’s why you don’t hear many people in the church talking about Jesus as the wonderful counselor that Scripture tells us He is. To talk about Him in this role is to admit one needs to be counseled.

It’s OK, really. Jesus gave counsel all the time. He counseled a woman at a well in Samaria, He counseled a Pharisee named Nicodemus and a tax collector named Levi. He offered assurance to a thief on a cross, and told a denier named Peter there was a bigger plan, and everything would be alright.

The flaws of the very people Christ came to save were not hidden in the Bible. James and John had some major anger problems. Matthew was a thief who betrayed his own people. Thomas struggled with doubt and Peter with denial. Paul was a persecutor and a murderer. Then there is Jesus. The wonderful counselor who came to show them the way.

The message of Scripture isn’t to suck it up and put on a mask. It isn’t to be strong. The message is that we are broken and we need help. We need a counselor, and not only do we need one, we need Him to be wonderful. We need him to be supernatural. We need God in the flesh. God knows we’re broken, and our brothers and sisters in Christ need to realize it and accept it as well.

If we’re not broken, we don’t need Jesus, and if we don’t need Jesus we can all sleep in on Sundays. Jesus is our healer, and that applies to emotional wounds as well. If you’re hurting, Jesus loves you and grieves with you. If you’re abused, you can bring that to Him. If you’ve been through a divorce and you just can’t shake the loneliness and the bitterness and you’re tired of forcing a smile, God understands your need. That’s why He promised a Wonderful Counselor more than 700 years before that counselor showed up.

Run to the counselor. He sure did come a long way to help you.

One Question

Ultimately, when investigating the truth claims of Jesus Christ, it all boils down to one important question. “Can a man rise from the dead?”

For some, that is an unimaginable stretch, and for those, no amount of evidence or argument could prove convincing. There is powerful evidence and reasoning for the historical accuracy of the resurrection of Christ. You can read that here.

If your mind is at least open to the possibility that a man can defeat death, what does that say about that man? If Jesus Christ, who claimed to be God, did in fact rise from the dead, then there is a high probability that all of his other claims were true. Rising from the dead, does not prove Jesus is God, but it certainly lends undeniable credibility to His claims.

If Jesus, who claimed to be God, did not rise from the dead, His claims are most certainly not true. If the disciples’ claims can be proven to be a hoax, or the actual bones of Jesus are found, it would prove conclusively that Jesus could not be who he claimed to be.

So the question is, do you believe a man can rise from the dead? Are you willing to consider such a notion? If you are, could Jesus have done this seemingly impossible act? This is the one event that the Christian faith stands or falls on.